New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is suing Samsung Electronics Co and other manufacturers of LCD screens used in computers, flat-screen televisions and mobile phones on Friday for allegedly fixing prices for a decade.
Some of the companies have pleaded guilty to similar federal charges and paid over US$890 million in fines.
The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in New York County, alleges that top executives at companies in Taiwan, Japan and Korea, and their US counterparts, created a secret group that agreed on prices to be charged for LCD screens and covered up their communications.
The alleged conspiracy over LCD screens occurred from 1996 to 2006, and included manufacturers AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Samsung, Hitachi Ltd, LG Display Co, Sharp Corp and Toshiba Corp.
The complaint by Cuomo, who is running for New York governor, said some of the companies have pleaded guilty to federal criminal antitrust violations and paid over US$890 million in fines already. Several of the plea agreements, which were made from 2008 to 2010, include prison sentences of up to 14 months.
The complaint alleges that the companies “reached detailed and explicit agreements — many of which were documented — to set prices and price increases and to restrict output. They enforced those agreements among themselves, singling out companies that deviated from the illegal agreements and bringing them back into line.”
“They knew their price fixing conspiracy was illegal and actively sought to conceal its existence,” it said.
Customers as a result spent hundreds of millions of dollars on screens affected by the conspiracy, Cuomo said in a statement.
“My office is bringing this case to get those illegal overcharges back,” he said.
Companies that pleaded guilty to the federal criminal antitrust violations and paid fines include Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管), Hitachi Displays Ltd, LG Display and its subsidiary LG Display America Inc, Sharp and a unit of Seiko Epson Corp.
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